Hail capable of causing damage to vehicles, outdoor grills, generators, etc., is possible in most regions. In some areas, golf ball sized or larger hail is not uncommon. In some instances, potential for vehicle damage exists due to debris blown by strong winds. Tree branches or other organic matter, for example, may cause damage to vehicle body components or glass. Conventional covers known in the art are generally designed to lie in contact with the covered object, such as a vehicle. Such covers afford some protection from the elements, but are ineffective in protecting against the hazards of hail and/or windblown debris. Inflatable vehicle covers have been proposed, but are generally ineffective for various reasons. Known prior art includes various devices which purport to offer some protection from hail. For example, U.S. Patent Publication 2010/0096052, describes an “inflatable bladder” vehicle covering. A remote inflation unit is used to inflate a bladder to a static, sealed, state. In another example, the “inflatable protective covers” of U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0284023, provides static, sealed, covers inflated to a thickness of one to three inches. U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,820 describes apparatus with an inflatable airway chamber sealed after inflation. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,594 a structure including a number of thin inflatable bags is described. The bags are designed to be inflated to a static inflated state. Various problems with these examples of the prior art are inherent in their static nature, including efforts to minimize inflation time, and providing and manipulating adequate valves or other sealing mechanisms. Of course, static designs are susceptible to failure by leakage, and once leaking, cannot be re-inflated. In many cases, the thicknesses and/or air density of the proposed inflatable covers is not adequate to prevent damage from large hail. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,644 a flexible vehicle cover is described as “having an air blower for constantly supplying air”. Problems remain in the art, however, such as attaining the specified speed of inflation, attaining and maintaining appropriate inflated pressure, and maintaining an inflated cover thickness sufficient to protect from hail, all of which must be accomplished using materials and blowers portable enough to be practical. On the whole, the prior art does not adequately address the need for a portable, inflatable, cover capable of resisting large hail, e.g., up to softball-sized.
Due to these and other problems and potential problems, there is a need for effective and practical portable, inflatable, covers capable of protecting vehicles, or other large objects stored outdoors, from relatively large hail and debris. Further, a need exists for inflatable covers having communication capabilities and operating mechanisms suitable for internet and/or telephonic, RF, or other remote access.